Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 520,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,009 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Duke Energy worth $61,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after buying an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,205,070,000 after buying an additional 319,001 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,503 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,088,158,000 after acquiring an additional 418,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after acquiring an additional 93,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $123.57 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $130.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $96.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $124.12 and a 200 day moving average of $120.91.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total transaction of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Duke Energy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.00.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.